Fyodor Smetanin was born on December 26, 1925 in the village of Gryazovo in Plesetsk district of Arkhangelsk region in a big family. He was the second son. Fyodor was the pride of his parents. Every school year he finished with a commendation list, he wanted to become a military man. He was tall, statuesque, athletic and intelligent young man. But on June 22 all plans collapsed… His elder brother Sasha went to the front. Grandfather was left in charge of helping his old parents and younger sisters. All men of military age were drafted into the Red Army. In 1942, my grandfather joined the Komsomol and became an active Komsomol member. At the age of sixteen, he was hired as a water carrier at a water pump, filling locomotives with water. Trains ran around the clock, and there were few stops at the station. So there was a lot of work. Sometimes he had to work 24 hours a day, but everyone knew that it was necessary to win the war. By then, the elder brother was missing. My grandfather was always thinking "how to get to the front". He said that he really wanted to sleep and eat. As a railway worker, he was given rations. But at home, his little sisters were waiting, they were not given rations. Then one day, on his way home, he lost his bread cards. He was very upset, he went looking for them, but didn't find them. Then, in January 1943, adding six months to the age, he applied to the district military enlistment office, with a request to be called up to the Soviet Army. The military enlistment office granted his request and sent him as a cadet to the military school for officer training in Arkhangelsk. The school was transferred from Arkhangelsk to Irkutsk. After completing the accelerated courses, young officers were assigned to the first Belorussian front. Upon arrival in the active army on the 1st Belorussian front as part of the 1st Department of the Engineer-Sapper Brigade, where he was enlisted as a sapper in the 3rd Company of the 1st platoon. He performed his first feat on January 6, 1944 in the Vitebsk region under artillery and mortar fire at the crossing of the Luchesa river. The enemy attacked a battalion of sappers working at the crossing to disrupt the work. But the Red Army men completed their misson. My grandfather performed his second and last feat in the war on March 2, 1944. Their platoon was ordered to set up a pontoon ferry to cross the Luchesa river. It was very difficult to do this, Messers were constantly flying and bombing. It was very scary, but was even more scary not to follow the order and to let the enemy pass. He was seriously injured. From 11 fighters - the only one remained alive. Shrapnel had torn the entire left side of his body. A young nurse carried him out of the battlefield. My grandfather didn't like to talk about it and always repeated it: "How did she drag me so small and young!" The seriously injured man was sent to a hospital in Tomsk, where his left arm was amputated. My grandfather lost an eye, but his leg was saved. For bravery, he was awarded the Order of the Great Patriotic War II class, the medal “For Bravery» and other medals. He didn't want to live, go home, and be a burden to his family. Some elderly female nurse shamed: "You are alive, on your feet, with your head - how not to be ashamed!" He returned home before the Victory. There were not enough personnel in the timber industry. A young demobilized guy was taken as a braker to the lower warehouse, and was elected Secretary of the Komsomol organization of the Shalakush forestry enterprise. He checked, marked and sent wagons with timber to the Ukraine to restore the mines of Donbass. He proved to be a competent, reliable person, and in 1949 he was offered to go to accounting courses in Arkhangelsk. My grandfather graduated with honors. The young specialist was offered a job as a chief accountant in the city, but he refused. He decided that he should start working as an ordinary accountant. So he and his family ended up in the Solza forest center, where he began his career as a senior accountant. Then he was transfered to Turzanski lesopunkt. The village was small. The school was only for primary classes, and the family had a first-grader daughter growing up. The head of the family decided to move to Iwatsu. Here our grandfather worked as a chief accountant until his retirement. Together with his wife Zoya Stepanovna, he raised four children, all of them were given an education. And the eldest daughter Nina followed in her father's footsteps and also became an accountant. My grandfather's three granddaughters work as accountants in different cities of Russia. We remember, love and thank our grandfather for the VICTORY!